it's only wednesday...

what a week, where shall i start? Let's start with Sunday....
our helper's mom had cataract surgery so we went to visit her in the hospital. Many other of their friends were there and they quickly surrounded Sophia. Her eyes got wide, and scared, and were then tempered by the appearance of a cell phone that became her toy. She sat on the other hospital bed surrounded by folks and played with the phone while we chatted with Abby's mom and sister. We are not so sure how these encounters affect her. She is always scared at first then seems to do okay....
She really did get to see Our Father show up in a big way, as we prayed for this surgery many times and then she saw the healing process, the bandage come off and his goodness evident.

Sunday evening...
88.9 degrees in our bedroom. too hot. no relief in sight. Sophia wakes up at 9pm scared. 'what are you scared of?' 'people.' she replies. (maybe she was scared from the hospital, no idea). she mumbles stuff. needs the door left open. we oblige. (this process was about an hour long).
At 2 a.m. after much tossing and turning and little sleep, I go to check on Bella boo, she is awake with thumb in her mouth....so I feed her (the previous night I checked on her at 3, 4, 5, and 6, sleeping well, she went from 9:30 until 6:50 and actually cried to be fed, wow, but it hasn't happened again). Back in bed at 2:30, I open the curtains, it is ten degrees cooler outside and feels like rain. PLEASE RAIN!
And did it ever. It was the loudest thunderstorm we have ever encountered here (they are always loud, echoing off the mountains). The sky lit up and the thunder roared on and off for over an hour. No sleeping through that, except the babies of course. I was sleeping soundly by 4:30 or so and Bella boo wakes up at 6:15 for more food.....
It is now Monday morning....
I don't even remember monday, seriously, where did it go. Our helper was late. why? because of the thunderstorm of course, she and her roommates huddled together in one bed in fear, it was quite scary, sounded like a war (I presume).
oh yeah, Monday. Baby wakes from her nap early, Sophia refuses lunch (it was gross), David is in the village. and well, we are all tired.
Monday night:
-sophia wakes again at 9pm, no idea why, wants more light???
-I forget what Isabella does, definitely not through the night. I fed her 2x I think.
Tuesday???
Our helper's mom and sis come over and eat lunch with us, Sophia and I bike to the store (we are getting ready for her 'potty party' this weekend), and too many other good interruptions to count.
Tuesday night,
Sophia's 9pm wake up call, what in the world is going on?
It is now Wednesday and I need a weekend...except not this weekend....this weekend is potty training time. Oh Please pray.
I know this isn't a crazy week in real mommyhood world, and I can't blog it all, but my weariness is real and I don't pretend to have it all together. I am just living, and loving, and loving my husband and my children, and hoping I display some kind of reliance on the Father. I don't want my independence any more (what a fallacy anyway), Thankful for dependence on the ultimate reliable.

I love jie jie (big sis)

With our helper, Abby, whom Sophia loves

they found this orange flower while they were outside together

i could only get a fake smile out of her, so I figured this personified her better.

Isabella 7 weeks

Here is our 7 week old, growing so fast. She pretty consistently goes through the night, meaning, I feed her at 10 pm and again around 5, sometimes 6, sometimes earlier. She did this way earlier than Sophia (okay really only about 2 weeks earlier). Here is the thing: She doesn't cry at that time, I check on her at 4 ish sometimes, she is sleeping well. At 5 she is sucking her thumb pretty good (so I feed her), or at 6, like this morning, no noise, I went in there, eyes wide open and thumb in her mouth! I just wonder how long she puts herself off with her thumb, she just started that this week. We are still happy around here for sure! But two thumb suckers. We definitely need to break Sophia's habit, but we can't say we haven't enjoyed the self comfort it has brought her at times! (EP, we won't let her go until 10 y.o., but may need your help breaking the habit!)

trying for some kind of portrait...

looking at daddy making funny faces


Love the cute clothes Poppy and CC and Laura and Lee

7 degrees of separation

David has this running joke about me and my utter devotion to all things Florida Gatorish. What can I say, I came from the womb on that campus, and grew up in a mass of orange and blue? He says that everything every where in my eyes leads back to the University of Florida , or Gainesville (everything is 7 degrees separated from Florida). He, of course, is using massive hyperbole to make his point but....we will be watching some sort of pro sports, or I will read something, and I say 'oh yeah, that guy went to Florida.' Or 'I am rooting for this team or that....because they have the most former Gators' 'was in FCA with that guy' and on and on....I have loved them when the teams stunk, and when they have won it all. My point?
Who doesn't like Gatorade, invented at the University of Florida by Dr. Cade (a gem of a man who, when I met him years ago, was still living in the same house he had lived in when he was just a nobody)?
Imagine my surprise when I happened upon some Gatorade in our little podunk town that hardly ever has imported stuff. One of these small cans cost 6.9 RMB which is exactly one dollar. I got home and proudly said: ' you can't tell me that the University of Florida hasn't impacted the world...it all comes back to Florida' and we both enjoyed our 4 ounces each.

back on the bike

Isabella slept from her 10 pm feeding to 5:45 this morning. wow. I am not counting my chickens yet, though. She went three nights dropping one feeding, then did her normal every 3.5 hours at night and then last night surprised me. Too bad I was awake at 4:40 and couldn't go back to sleep. Gotta hate that. She is 11 pounds at 6 weeks, she has gained lots since birth, which is great! We will see what tonight brings.

Meanwhile, David worked at home today so while Isabella slept, Sophia and I could make two bicycle trips. We visited our Tea Shoppe friends and took them some banana bread that Sophia helped me make (see pics below) and we went to the supermarket. In the afternoon we biked across town to get some pics printed and buy pineapple, watermelon and other goodies. We were loaded down. I had bags hanging on every inch of the bike! I bought six pineapples (yes six!) for just over $2. yummy. I will freeze some. Who knew you could freeze pineapple...I will most certainly do this until my freezer is full!!!

And to sign off, a funny tidbit from ever challenging, always hilarious Sophia:
we were reading the children's book: 'Most of all Jesus loves you.' She knows this book, but we hadn't read it in about a week. We got almost to the end:
The book: "then mama says and remember..."
I pause and ask Sophia, 'what does mama say.'
She replies: 'don't call for mommy or daddy.' LOL yes I did. We tell her not to call for us at nap or night because she loves to drag out the 'good night' time, and often wakes up way early. We really are not cruel, I promise, when she is really scared she still calls. So then I say.
'yes, that is true, don't call for mommy and daddy,' but what else does mama say:
and with her I say: 'Most of all Jesus loves you' and she adds matter-of-factly: 'and don't call for mommy and daddy.'


so, she got a little on her face...wouldn't be baking without a mess


mashing bananas, stirring up everything, a great helper


miscellaneous pigtails and a fake smile

I thought your shirt said 100% sweet. her comes the pout and whine...

what I found Sophia doing...

Sophia was just jabbering away 'reading' the good Word to Isabella. She did this for more than ten minutes straight, really focusing on the text, 'sounding out words' (yeah right). She was reading from 1 John, and had a little trouble with the word propitiation, but then who doesn't? She really would input real phrases every once in awhile (just don't tell her it was upside down).







what did we learn from our reading? Love God, love others.

the run...

okay...jog...no really, it was more like a snail trot (what?). Baby is six weeks old and I can exercise. With an extra 30 pounds on me, it felt...well, not very refreshing. But it was a start. My attempt at movement was slower than you walk, but it got my heart rate up there. And this is someone who used to be a runner, and really enjoy it! It will come, I know, and I am excited. Snail pace or not, I will plug along...so when you pass me by just wave and wish me well...